


SOTUS: Hearts Awakened

by omnomeevee



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sotus: The Series (2016) Fusion, F/M, M/M, Sotus: The Series references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-01-24 22:36:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21345883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omnomeevee/pseuds/omnomeevee
Summary: Seniority. Order. Tradition. Unity. Spirit.When the newest batch of freshmen come to the university and the yearly initiation starts, things get turned on their head. All of the students have their own ideas of how the system works. Some look up to it, some look down on it, some feel it's beneficial, some see the need for obvious change, and some are plain scared of it.But through the course of the hazing process, five juniors and seven freshmen learn the meaning of the system, and find out more about themselves and their friends.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Lyn Anh, Choi Jongho/Original Female Character(s), Choi San/Cordelia Marino, Choi San/Original Female Character(s), Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung & Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Original Female Character(s), Kim Hongjoong/Serenity Kai, Park Seonghwa/Original Female Character(s), Park Seonghwa/Phoenix Reynard
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

“It’s not going to be too bad, right?” Cordelia says, leaning a bit on Serenity say they walk. “You know, I heard about some of the freshman getting sick and hurt from how intense things get..” She pouts, setting her things down on one of the tables in the courtyard, Serenity following close behind her.

“I don’t know, don’t you think that these things are like, just made up stories?” She sits, fidgeting with the skirt the girls at the university were required to wear for the first few weeks. Cordelia sighs, Serenity seeing the worry on her face. “They’re just saying it to scare you.” Serenity tried her best to comfort her friend, but it seemed like not much was helping. And if she was honest, she was scared too. She had heard the stories from her friends, the few that were older than her, and she knew that the hazing process was no joke. But nonetheless, she tried, ensuring that nothing was going to happen to any of them.

Amidst their conversation, their friends showed up, two other freshmen girls. They jokes and played around a bit about what the experience was going to be like as they headed to the gym to sit in on the first meeting with the hazers. A room full of freshman, all ready to start their degree in college and get the hell out. Yet, sitting in this room, each and every one of them felt incredibly seen. They’re accounted for, name tags given to them at the door as they signed their names and identification numbers on a list. Chatter all around them, a curious Serenity looks around at the lot of faces; some she recognizes, others she’s never seen before. After a bit of time, she spots her childhood friend and sends him a warm smile. He waves, walking over with his new friend and taking Serenity into a hug. “Ren!” He smiles, laughing a bit. “I was wondering when I'd finally see you!” He nods to his friend, “This is Jongho, I’m Yunho!” He introduces himself to the small circle of girls in front of him.

Jongho waves shyly, a smile on his face. To the right of Serenity, Lyn can feel her heartbeat kick up a notch. She had seen Jongho around when they were all doing interviews and moving into the dorms and hadn’t had the courage to say anything to him. The four girls sent out a chorus of hellos and passing introductions, but jumped at the sound of the doors opening loudly. Phoenix rolled her eyes at the sigh;a line of five guys walking in, their senior shirts unbuttoned over black t-shirts, hands behind their backs, making their way to the small elevated stage in the front of the gym.

All of the rooms attention was on them, the one in the center of the line stepping forward and eyeing the crowd. Stern faces watched as their juniors seemed to not know what to do. The leader turned his head to look at his counter parts before he spoke. “Is this anyway to greet your seniors?!” The overall chatter settles a bit, but not entirely, though Serenity and her group of friends stop talking. The leaders frustration is evident as he glances around the room, the mass of students in front of him blissfully unaware. He opens his mouth, getting ready to say something but his head snaps to the door opening again.

A frantic student walks in, sheepishly putting on his name tag and hanging his head low, trying to get himself lost in the crowd before he gets called out. From the far right, the hazer on the end steps forward. His voice is loud, much louder than the leaders, and it echoes in the room. “Student 00615, Yeosang Kang, why are you late?!” The student pops his head up, surprised at hearing his name being called, and shakes his head. He glances over at Phoenix, trying to figure out what to do. “00615, answer my question!”

“I…” He stutters out, taking a deep breath, “I wasn’t sure where to go..” He mumbles out, putting his head down again.

“Who here knows him?” The hazer calls out to the crowd, but receives no answer. “I said, who knows him?” He repeats, this time louder and more aggressive. Yunho and Jongho raise their hands slowly, and Serenity watches as the hazer walks in their direction. “So, you couldn’t have helped a friend out? You all knew you were to be on time, it seems that many of you knew where to go. Did no one see him looking around?” Silence filled the room, the hazer rolling his eyes as he spoke again. “Am I talking to the walls? Did none of you see him?” A few people admit to having seen Yeosang, but leave it at that. “00615, do you have anything else to say aside from being late?” Yeosang kept quiet, somehow getting himself into the Serenity’s group of friends, and shook his head. “Give me an answer!”

“No,” Yeosang spoke softly.

“I can’t hear you! Surely those in-”

“Wooyoung, that’s enough!” The leader speaks up, tipping his head at his friend. Wooyoung nods, walking back to his spot and staring into the space in front of him. The leader licks his lips before he speaks, his brain gogin over all he needs to say in a short amount of time. “Everyone sit down. Since this is the first meeting, I’ll spare you all any punishment for your friend being late. If it happens again though, there will be punishment.” He waits for the commotion to settle down before he starts up again. “I’m Hongjoong Kim, your head hazer this year.” He motions to the other four behind him. “These four are those who are behind me in all the decisions for the out come of your class. We expect nothing but respect from you all, the ability to listen and be attentive to what you are told. You’re here to do more than simply study.. And we are here to help teach you that.”

He goes on to talk about the notebooks that everyone had been given, how they have no more than a week to get all the signatures of the seniors and that they will not be given easily. Serenity and her small group all share worried glances, unsure how they’re going to manage to do the task, but before they can even form a thought, Hongjoong speaks up again. “Failure to achieve the required signatures will result in punishment. That’s all for today..” He says as the five of them walk out of the gym.

Quietly, the five of them walk to the room they have their meetings in, Hongjoong being the last to walk in. He shuts the door behind them, pivoting on his heel and crossing his arms in one swoop. The other four have started small talk, figuring out what they’re going to eat, oblivious to Hongjoong’s anger. He clears his throat, loudly to be sure at least one of them hears him. Mingi is the first to turn his attention, Hongjoong raising his eyebrows and biting his tongue between his teeth. He stays quiet until Mingi is able to get the rest of the guys’ attention.

“What’s the face for?” San speaks up, normally being the one to voice opinions first.

“Take a wild guess..” Hongjoong sassed, looking directly at Wooyoung.

“Oh, you’re in trouble already..” Seonghwa sits back and crosses his leg over the other, not sure how this is going to play out.

“Hong, they were told to be here on time, and he wasn’t. What was I supposed to do?” It was less of a question and more of a statement, though Wooyoung didn’t quite mean it like that.

“You could have let me handle it before you said something.”

“We do this as a group, I felt it was appropriate.”

“Next time, give everyone, including the rest of us, a second to think.” Hongjoong finally moves and sits down, keeping the conversation at that and switching the topic.

***

Once the hazers leave, the students all let themselves settle, but eventually they are up again having various conversations. Phoenix formally introduces herself and the rest of the group to Yeosang, who seems far less shy when he is in a small crowd and not the center of attention. The seven of them all go to sit at a table to grab a bite to eat before they had back to their dorms for the night. The topic of the notebooks come up and most of them go silent. Cordelia’s nervous mind takes over again and she starts up the discussion. “So, what are the hazers like.. We only really had Hongjoong and Wooyoung speak..”

Jongho clears his throat. “Well… perfect timing,” He starts, as the hazers walk in to sit down themselves. He points out the first one, the shortest of them, but still intimidating looking. Ren watches, a bit distracted if she were to admit, the striking red hair being the first thing that catches her attention. “Hongjoong is the leader this year.. And he’s ruthless. He’s currently the top of his class, he’s strict, and he doesn’t let you get away with things easily.”

He points to the next. Black hair with an undercut and probably the most serious face out of them all, seemingly going off on his friends about something. “That’s Seonghwa.. He’s the one who likes order and organization. He’s the oldest out of them, and he doesn’t tend to let that go lightly..” The blonde headed one was the next that he pointed at. “San often acts like he’s the sweetest, but he often coaches the volleyball games… And our college has never lost since he’s started being the coach.” Next was another blonde, thought this one has an undercut and was well annoyed as he walked. “That’s Wooyoung. Hotheaded, demanding, and acts like a drill sergeant. He would have been in the military, but he decided to get a degree.” The last one he pointed too was the tallest, and admittedly, he looked the least intimidating. His dark brown hair hung in his face a bit, and he smiled widely as he sat himself down. “That’s Mingi.. The quietest out of them. He’s probably the easiest going out of them, tending to joke around with his juniors. But if you do manage to upset him, it’s a different story.” Jongho shakes his head, taking a look at his friends. “Really though, they aren’t much different than us..” He reassures.

“How do you know all of this?” Lyn asks, her cheeks flushing a bit red when she does.

“Oh,” Jongho smiles, looking down at his hands. “I um.. I know someone who is in their class. My cousin, actually.” He smiles a bit again before turning back to the conversation with the rest of their friends.

Seonghwa is animated, moving his hands around as he talks to his friends, deep into an explanation. “No, no, no, no. Look, not everyone gets it. ASMR isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine but don’t bash it until you ty it!” He whines at Wooyoung, who had been pestering him about the topic for the past week.

“I just don’t get it, sitting listening to someone tap on a glass and it relaxing you? That just seems annoying.” Wooyoung passes him a drink, but not before he takes a second to mockingly tap his nails on the bottle.

“You’re annoying but we put up with you anyways..” Seonghwa bickers back at him, granting him a smack on the arm from Hongjoong.

“You know, some people’s brains are just wired different..” Hongjoong adds in, trying to clear the air before they actually get heated.

“Hong is right,” San smiles, Mingi shaking his head.

“San, please…” Mingi laughs.

“No, no, let me finish.” San puts his finger up to Mingi’s lips, or at least tries to over the table, pointing to each of his friends as he speaks about them. “Mars’ brain is wired to like noises, Hong’s brain is wired to be good at everything, Mingi’s is wired to be scared of bugs,”

“Hey!”

“Shhh,” He laughs, “Mine is wired to have a knack for sports and yours Woo,” San points at Wooyoung slowly and dramatically, “is wired to be the group asshole.”

“San, I swear to God,” Wooyoung gets up and goes to chase him, but Mingi grabs Wooyoung before he can get too far.

To the freshmen, it looks as if they’re actually fighting, which peaks Phoenix’s interest. “So, how about someone goes and asks one of them for their signature?” Phoenix propositions, raising her eyebrows in the process.

“Why about you, Nix? You brought it up.” Seren puts her head down on her arms and looks up, hoping that she might do it and not make her do it. The thought of going and facing all of them at once making her stomach turn.

“No, I don’t feel like dealing with them. One of the guys should.” She eyes them all and waits for one of them to say something.

“Rock, paper, scissors. Loser goes.” Yeosang suggests, placing his hand on the table, ready to go. Lyn calls out the count and they go until one is left out. Yunho whines when he realizes he’s the one who has to do it.

Yeosang and Jongho let out a sigh of relief, settling back a bit and looking over at Yunho, who stood up with confidence. Little, but confidence either way. “Fine. And I’ll get all of them..” He glances over, studying the five guys that he was intimidated by not less than 20 minutes ago.

“You sure, Yunho?” Seren pursed her lips and pouted at her friend. “They can make you do anything…”

“I know.” He gave a small nod, “I got this.” He says, walking off and giving himself a pep talk as he does, nervous to approach them. When he did, he sort of stood awkwardly behind Hongjoong and Mingi, fumbling with his notebook in his hands.

San tapped Seonghwa on the arm to get his attention and nodded to Yunho, who was closing his eyes and thinking how to start the interaction. Seonghwa nodded, clearing his throat. “Name and identification number..”

“I um..” Yunho stuttered, gather his thoughts. “Student 00323, Yunho Jeong.”

“What is it?” Seonghwa narrowed his eyes as he spoke, and Yunho could feel his confidence wavering. He swallowed back, now in a position he couldn't get out of, so he stumbled his way through.

“I wanted to um.. ask for your... signatures..” He stopped, trying to finish the sentence off strong, but lost the words in his head. Mingi could hear the shakiness of Yunho’s voice, even though he hadn’t looked back at him yet. He watched his friends across from him, but still paid attention to Yunho. “Fo-for my notebook..”

The five of them looks amongst themselves, all waiting for one of them to come up with a task for him to do. Wooyoung spoke up before the rest of them did, which was the last person Yunho wanted to talk. “Fine. But you have to stand on the table and tell the cafeteria which of us you’d take on a date, before any of us do it.”

Yunho took in a sharp breath, with a hushed “I’m sorry?”, the task taking him aback. Normally the punishments where physical, or even humiliating, but this was not what he was expecting. Either way, he didn’t want to disappoint, so he clarified. “This.. This table?”

Mingi shook his head at Wooyoung, chewing at his lip before he turned around to look at Yunho. Wooyoung had started talking again, instructing Yunho still, but Mingi toned him out. He eyed Yunho up and down, quickly at first, but then took a second to actually pay attention to details. He was tall, shy looking, a mop of hair that sat a bit haphazardly on his head, but making Mingi crack a smile. Even though he was big, he managed to keep himself in such a small space, and Mingi was impressed. But what caught his eye the most was the dainty necklace he had on, with a charm on it that Mingi recognized; only because he too once wore something similar. Not anymore, but he knew what it meant. So as Yunho nodded and looked as if he was getting ready to comply, Mingi stopped him. “00323,” He extended his hand once Yunho turned to him, nodding at his notebook. “Give me it.”

“But I didn’t-”

“Give me the notebook. I know you didn’t,” Yunho nodded, handing it over and letting his hands hang at his sides. Mingi took out a pen from his pocket, signing his name on the first line, and tossing the book on the table. “Just give him the signatures..” Mingi watched the rest of the hazers, who slowly nodded and signed their names, Mingi taking the book back and handing it to Yunho. “Good luck, kid.”

Yunho nodded and bowed a bit, his hands clapping together with the book in the middle as he did. He backed away before he turned around and went back to his friends. When he got closer he shook the notebook in the air and sat next to Cordelia. “That could have gone worse. You should have done it, Nix.”

“What do you mean?” Phoenix asked him, picking at the last of Cordelia’s food that she hadn’t finished.

“That task was.. Odd..” Yunho mumbled. “But! I got all five of them. The tall one, Mingi you said?” He turned to Jongho, who gave an affirmative nod. “He made them sign for me.”

“Oh really? What did you have to do?” Lyn asked, seemingly taking some notes on what the hazers have done, but not intentionally.

“Well… Nothing. Mingi sort of just, made them…” Yunho turned to glance back at them, meeting eyes with Mingi for a split second, before the two of them turned back quickly to their respective tables.

“I should get going…” Serenity says, gathering her things and running around the table to give hugs, before she headed off back to her and Cordelia’s dorm. “I’ll leave the door open for you, Cor!” She smiled, skipping away and keeping her cool as she passed by the hazers.

She considered stopping and asking for signatures - the only ones left at the table being Hongjoong, Mingi and San - but she decided not to. She still had some time, and didn’t feel like searching for her notebook. So she enjoyed the short walk to the dorm buildings, settling herself into the feeling of being a university student. It was a lot to take in, knowing very well that the initiation process was cut throat. The hazers never went easy. If you even so much as looked at them wrong, they were more than likely going to give you some type of punishment. Sure, the first day wasn’t too bad, but they had so much more time to go before they were done. She went over the names in her head; San, Mingi, Seonghwa, Wooyoung and Hongjoong. All very different, but nonetheless ready to make this experience one to remember - good or bad.

When she approached the entrance of the housing on campus, she slowed down her pace. A small orange tabby cat caught her attention, lounging on the warm pavement only to get up and meow when she got closer. She spoke softly to it, the animal bringing her a sense of home and security. A generous amount of purring and head rubs made her instantly fall in love, but she dug through her leftover lunch and gave the poor thing some for the ham from her sandwich before giving a few more scratches and heading in. Feeling a tinge of guilt having to leave the fluff-ball out there, she grabbed a bowl and put some water in it, along with a plate to put the remaining pieces of ham on it and set it on her small little patio outside her room.


	2. Chapter 2

A light tap on his shoulder took Hongjoong out of his zone as he searched through the books, his cue to leave. He walks back to the small study booth he was in and gathers his things. As he walked out of the library, he continued to slightly adjust his bag to the weight of the books he had picked up for his classes. Opposed to earlier in the day, he was far more relaxed. He had left his seniors shirt in his room, even though nine times out of ten he would still wear it when he was on school grounds. His hair was loose and not slicked back, and he walked along slowly, taking in the night air. He hummed a song to himself and headed back to his dorm after a little bit of what he considered ‘relaxing’.

Serenity turned around in her dorm room after being there for a few hours, realizing that she forgot to pick up her notebook from the table they ate lunch at and panicking. “I couldn’t have forgotten it…” Seren looked through the bag one more time, taking things out and then putting them back when she came up empty. She slumped on the floor before she slipped on her shoes and walked out, retracing her steps to the campus courtyard. As she walks, she pays attention to her phone, texting her friends to see if any of them maybe grabbed it, again turning up empty.

Hongjoong also was paying attention to his phone, texting the group chat he had with the other guys about what time they were meeting to retrieve the freshmen. The two of them looked up too late, Serenity smacking right into Hongjoong’s chest. She stumbled back, her phone having fallen from the impact. Hongjoong bent to pick up her phone as she collected herself, holding the phone out softly. When Seren looked up, her eyes widened and she bowed, starting to apologize. “Hongjoong, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention..” She stood there for a second, her head down and her hands clasped together.

“Ahh…” Hongjoong nodded, realizing that Serenity was one of his juniors. “You’re fine.. It’s late, you probably weren’t expecting anyone here.” He extended his hand out to her again, still holding on to her phone. He smiled to himself for a second, watching her try and figure out how the situation was going to go. “It’s your phone, take it.” He laughed, which caught Seren off guard. Hongjoong let her fingers linger when she grabbed her phone, softly taking it back and checking for any scratches. She put it in her pocket and bowed again.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again.." Seren went and started to walk off to continue her search.

Hongjoong stood there for a second as she walked past him before he spoke. "I didn’t catch your name." He spoke loudly and Serenity jumped, turning to him again to address him properly.

"00115, Serenity Kai." He turned around with a laugh and Seren felt a bit less intimidated by him.

"I just asked for your name, but thank you for being respectful," he tipped his head. "Can I ask what you're here for? Like I said, it's late.."

"I…" Serenity contemplated telling the truth, but was scared of getting in trouble. If she found it, there'd be no way he'd know she had lost it on the first day. If she told him now, he might have some punishment for her. Therefore, she opted to come up with a lie; a harmless one, but a lie nonetheless. "I was just going to the library to print some stuff out.."

Hongjoong nodded, "Okay, well, make sure you get back safe." Seren bowed again before her and him parted ways.

Seren went and found the table they sat at earlier, whining when the notebook wasn't anywhere to be found.

***

Hongjoong settled himself at his desk once he got back to his dorm, taking out all the books he had rented, skimming through them and then setting them in their right spots. He catches himself thinking about the junior he ran into, pulling out the notebook he had found as he was leaving the cafeteria earlier that day. He opened it up looking at the name printed on the inner cover and shook his head. “Student 00115, Serenity Kai, dorm room 25...” He shakes his head again, laughing. “She must have forgotten to grab it and went to look for it..” He skimmed through the pages, making his way to the back cover and finding her phone number. He places the open book on his desk and hops over to where he placed his phone, grabbing the book again and plopping down on his bed, typing in the number and writing out a text. He took a deep breath before he rolled over onto his back and let his phone sit on the side of him. “I shouldn’t be this nice to her..”

He shuts his eyes and against his better judgement he calls Seonghwa, who is over in a few minutes.

Hongjoong starts off right away explaining to him the odd feeling that washed over him. He wasn't sure why he felt so conflicted on whether or not to use it as a tool to teach the freshmen, or just be nice to her - because something about her made him rethink the whole 'being stern' thing. Seonghwa nodded, listening intently and paused before he spoke. “So what, you just want to give the notebook back?” Seonghwa shrugs after, staring up at the ceiling.

“Yeah." The response was far weaker than Hongjoong was expecting it to be. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "I don't know, shouldn’t I make a big deal out of it?” Hongjoong taps at the notebook with his fingers, “I really feel like I should be making a bigger deal out of it.” The words weren't really directed at anyone but himself, but Seonghwa still replied.

“You normally don’t make a big deal out of things, Hongjoong.. Why would this be any different?”

“I don’t know, she’s our junior. I’m supposed to be harsh on them.”

“What’s her dorm number?”

“25, pretty sure it's on the lower level.”

“Put it outside her door. You don’t have to tell her it’s you.” Seonghwa sits up, walking himself to his shoes and then leans on the doorway before he leaves. “Tell me what you do in the morning. We’ll figure it out from there.”

Hongjoong takes a second to think before he gets up himself and puts on his shoes, walking to find where Serenity’s room was. He counts the numbers as they start to get closer to hers and pauses in front of it. He thinks about knocking, but instead sets the notebook down and rounds the corner.

Serenity looks over at her phone when it lights up with a new text, from a number she doesn’t recognize. She tries to figure out if she had given anyone her number, but opens the text anyhow. “Oh thank god, someone found my notebook…” She hops out of bed and shuffles to the door, opening it and peeking out to see if who ever found it is still around. Hongjoong tucked himself away when he saw her open the door, trying his best to not be seen by her. When he hears the door click, he lets out a breath and walks himself back to his dorm room.

***

The seniors collected their juniors after their last class of the day, allowing them to change into t-shirts and more comfortable pants, but no one saw the hazers until they entered the gym. They stood in the same order as the day before and Seonghwa stepped forward when they all walked in. “Get into straight, even lines in front of us! Now!” Seonghwa watches over them as they all scramble to form even lines, eventually getting there. “Arms extended! Hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you!” He makes sure each word is said loudly, clear, but still demanding. He nods, looking over at Hongjoong, who nods back at him. “It was brought to my attention that many of you have already misplaced things!” He scans the room, panicked looks given to friends and small voices can be heard. “Name tags, notebooks. This is unacceptable! Do you understand this?!”

There’s a few groupings of ‘yes’ that can be heard throughout the room, and San steps forward to speak. “He asked if you understood! Do you all understand that this is unacceptable?!”

In a stronger unified “Yes!” is given, but nonetheless the freshmen are forced to repeat it three more times, once more for the remaining hazers.

Once they are done, Seonghwa steps up again. “Everyone sit down. Arms around each others shoulders, heads down.” All of them comply, sitting cross legged and huddling together. Seonghwa walks forward towards the mass of students in front of him. He looks back at Hongjoong again when he is in front of the section Serenity is in. Hongjoong nods, knowing very well that Seonghwa had already knew what he was going to do last night.

_ “So, you took it back to her?” Seonghwa asked when Hongjoong turned up empty handed to the morning meeting._

_ "Yes, I did.” Seonghwa smiled, but Hongjoong put his finger to Seonghwa’s nose as he spoke to him. “It’s the last time, Mars. I won’t do it again. I just felt bad.”_

_ “You just have a soft side you refuse to show.” Seonghwa moves Hongjoong’s hand out of his face, looking at him unamused._

_ “Whatever.” Hongjoong left it at that, without telling him that he had texted her to let her know it was at her door and waited until she had gotten it back safely._

“Student 00115, on your feet.” Seonghwa’s stern voice spooked Seren, causing her to jump up and try to keep herself as small as possible. Hongjoong looked down at his position in the front of the room, knowing that he had said to do this. A punishment that wasn’t really a punishment; and he wasn’t sure why it made him have a knot in his stomach. “Greet me properly!” Seonghwa barked the order, brows furrowed as he did.

“00115, Serenity Kai..” Seren peeped out, small and weak, not able to look at him in the eye.

“Again! Look at me!”

“00115, Serenity Kai!” She yelled, her voice quivering slightly as she did.

Seonghwa made her repeat herself five more times, but he told her to stop as her voice strained to go any louder. “This is how you’ll address myself and your other seniors! If you do not, you will not be heard! Is this clear?!” He asks the room and he gets a unanimous ‘yes’ in response. “As far as the misplacement of things, it will not be tolerated!”

Seren can feel her heart beating quickly, knowing she had misplaced her notebook yesterday, and knowing she had lied to Hongjoong about why she was on campus late. She tried her hardest to keep quiet and not rat herself out, unknown to her that the person who returned her book was Hongjoong himself. Seonghwa looks back at Serenity, eyes examining her face. “Do you understand?” He spoke low, close to her face, making her take a small step backwards. She stayed quiet, so Seonghwa pressed on. “I asked a question! I expect an answer!” She nodded, unable to say anything verbally.

Phoenix watched closely, visibly able to see her friend feeling uncomfortable, and not able to hold herself back anymore. When Seonghwa went to speak again, Hongjoong nearly called him off, but Nix beat him to it. “00836, Phoenix Reynard.” She stood up, staring at Seonghwa, who was caught by surprise that someone had spoken up. He walked to stand in front of her, her eyes seemingly bored and unafraid.

“Are you one of her friends?” Seonghwa spoke low again, and Nix felt herself break a half smile. She could tell he was challenging her, but not fully into it.

“Yes.” She spoke calmly, even toned and strong. “I find it unfair of you to speak to her as if she misplaced something. You are to inform us of these things, no?”

Seonghwa looked over at Serenity, who had started to play aimlessly with the hem of her shirt, then back at Phoenix. “You’re correct.” He nods, looking back at the rest of the hazers and then at Seren. “00115, have a seat.” He pulled his head straight and looked directly at Phoenix. “I’ll continue with her.” He pulled out a string with a small metal pendant on it, a never ending knot. “Do you see this?” He asked, though it was directed at everyone. Phoenix joined in on the ‘yes’, looking at Seonghwa. “This is the pride of our college! If you were to sever a single part of this knot, the whole thing would fall apart! It is continuous, never ending, a representation of unity and working together!” He looked back at Nix, steel eyed and strong. “Your goal is to obtain these pendants. To be deemed worthy of possessing one. Are you going to be able to prove yourself? Are your friends?” Phoenix smiled, not giving an answer right away. Seonghwa shook his head, growing a bit frustrated. “Well, are you?”

“Am I proving myself to you?” She deadpanned, a smirk written on her face.

“Yes.” Seonghwa could feel the tension, but didn’t let it get to him. “How are you going to get this from me?” He asked her, his voice filling the space around them.

“Well, I’ll simply make it mine, with your help.” Phoenix’s smile grew wider as she spoke, the room starting to look up and watch it play out.

“And how will you do that?” He crossed his arms, not expecting the witty answer that comes out of her mouth next.

“I’ll just make you my husband.”

Seonghwa’s jaw dropped, his eyes squinting at her in disbelief. Mingi had started to walk towards them and grabbed Seonghwa’s arm softly to try and bring him back. Seonghwa brushed him off and didn’t break eye contact with Phoenix. “And how will that make it yours?”

“When a man and a woman get married, all of their belongings end up each others. You already obtained the pendent before. By you being my husband, it would make it mine as well.” She crossed her arms at him, raising an eyebrow.

“You little-” Seonghwa started, but Mingi grabbed him and walked him back to the rest of the hazers.

Mingi scanned the room, catching a glimpse of Yunho and who he hung around, realizing one of them was Phoenix. He shook his head and spoke, everyone looking up at the low toned voice that came from his chest. “No one told you to look up! All of you keep your heads down!” He looked at Phoenix and shut his eyes for a second. “The behavior that your friend here exhibited is not appropriate. It is disrespectful, uncalled for, and is a right for punishment.” He opened his eyes again, “Phoenix Reynard, 100 squats.” She rolled her eyes and started, but Seonghwa made her stop.

“Start over! Less attitude!” She started up again, only of Seonghwa to make her stop one more time. “Count out loud! No one look at her! No one is allowed to leave until she is done!”


	3. Chapter 3

After what felt like hours, they were able to leave. Surprisingly, the day was still early, the sun was just starting to set and everyone - aside from Phoenix, maybe - was still pretty ready to go. Seren suggested they go out to settle from the day, waiting for an answer from her friends.

"I'm beat.." Nix says, a shock to everyone that she'd pass up an opportunity for a communal food gathering; everyone normally got something and shared. But nonetheless they understood.

"I really need to study…" Lyn chimes in, leaning on her roommate, both equally tired, just in different ways.

"Already? It's only been two days…" Yunho whines at her, confused as to why she was always so hard on herself.

"Yeah. I didn't quite understand part of the lesson today, so I'm going to go over it." Phoenix nods in agreement.

"I'll help her, so she's not super stressed.." Nix assures, her and Lyn saying their goodbyes and heading back.

Seren looks around, assuming she'd see the three boys and Cor, but coming up short of two boys. Yeosang and Jongho had started to talk - ending up in their own world - when they walked out of the gym, forgetting to check if they're friends were following and had disappeared. Yunho looked at Ren and nodded, though the affirmation of going was a given already. The two of them threw their arms around a dazed out Cordelia, who was counting away at her heart's content. She was going with, whether she wanted to or not.

And when they pulled up to one of Cordelia’s favorite noodle shops, she was more than happy to have been dragged along.

Only to right away start thinking of where her new favorite place can be, all due to the new wait staff.

She pulled Seren and Yunho back as they walked in, an unfortunately familiar face getting ready to greet them at the door. Her two friends looked at her, confused a bit until it clicked in Ren’s brain. “Oh my god, it’s her..”

Cordelia nodded, Yunho’s eyes bouncing back and forth between the girls as they made exaggerated faces and random noises at one another, nodding in agreement. Once he was thoroughly confused, he spoke up. “Who is her?” He put his hands up to the girls and shook his head. “Who do we not like and why?” He dropped his voice to a sorry excuse of a whisper - a habit he had picked up form Serenity after being friends for so long - and looked around trying to take in account all of the girls and women in the room.

Before either of them could answer him, the ‘her’ in question spoke up. “Oh hi Cordelia! Serenity… And..” She eyed the other two, Seren being a bit standoffish, and a disoriented looking Yunho staying at her, the gears starting to turn in his head.

Yunho raised his eyebrow at a panicked Cordelia, who was trying her hardest to hide herself behind Serenity as much as she could. A sort of human shield, and considering Yunho knew her, he knew it was a good move. Ren’s bark might have been small when it came to confrontation on her part, but for someone she cared about, her bite was sharp. Yunho extended his hand to this girl, who took it cautiously. “I’m Yunho.” He put his other hand on his chest, to the outside looking like a kind gesture towards himself, but he was making sure his pendent was hidden. “Cordelia’s boyfriend.” He shot a half smile, one that was a bit incomplete at the ends, but still convincing. “You are? I don’t think I’ve ever heard about you?” The hint of sarcasm made Seren shake her head and bite back a devilish smile - just another thing he had picked up from her after all this time.

“Oh, I’m Lavender..” She spoke quietly, weak and Seren stifled a laugh, granting her a sharp jab on the side from Cor before Lavender continued. “So, just three today?” They all nodded, and were instructed to sit wherever they wanted in a certain section.

And it may have just been out of habit, but Yunho’s protective instincts seemed to vanish because he sat next to Ren and not Cor, nothing going unnoticed by the watchful eye of the fly on the wall. She meddled in things since high school, trying to get in between friendships and talk to Cordelia in a more intimate way. She didn’t take the hint then, and she surely didn’t take the hint now, considering it had been a while since she had seen any of them. The growing awkwardness and the fact that Lavender kept coming and trying to pass conversation as good hospitality as a waitress when they had only just ordered something to drink for the time being, their time so far had gotten a bit annoying.

And the empty space next to Cordelia felt like a sore spot that was being poked at when Lavender wanted to talk to her.

Seren rolled her eyes the next time Lavender asked if they needed anything more - the fifth time in the past fifteen minutes - and there was absolutely no reason to ask again.

Amidst all this, San and Mingi walk in unsuspecting to the fact that their juniors were there. It was typical of them to go out together after school, so after hazing meetings was going to be no different. The two guys had been friends for a long while and the playful banter about the days events came easy to the two of them. They walked in and it was Mingi who took notice first. They ended up being able to sit in the same area and he took it upon himself to sit close. In just two days, Yunho had become a consistent resident in his mind. He felt a pull towards him, a nagging feeling to know who he was, make sure he was doing well. He wanted to be close to him and Mingi was never one to tell himself no. So, with the somewhat 'fated' fact that they just so happened to end up in the same place, at the same time, Mingi took advantage of the cards he was dealt and sat close by. Just a tad out of sight, but well enough in earshot.

San was oblivious. He wasn't as spacey as people tended to think he was; though he definitely let things go over his head if they weren't point blank and nearly plastered to his face. He kept to himself and he liked it that way. Yet, even with that contentedness with being blissfully unaware, he knew Mingi. Maybe a bit too well in his defense, after the years they had probably gotten a bit too close, but nonetheless he was aware that Mingi had his mind set on something - or someone - just based on his body language. He insisted to sit facing a certain direction, and San could care less to look an see who was his interest. Surely he’d spill eventually and San was patient.

“So, what did you think of the little scene that one freshman caused?” San asked, looking over the menu but opting to get the same thing he normally did. Mingi nodded, the menu untouched and not paying attention to a word San is saying. He confirmed this by talking nonsense and getting a few ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘oh wow’ responses, in a patterned order. San rolled his eyes and kept quiet, knowing that space cadet Mingi would eventually come back to him.

What San didn’t know was that Mingi was listening to a different conversation. Two tables up and to the left, the booth was full. If Mingi didn’t know, he would have thought it was just Yunho and his friend; but he was aware that there were two girls with him. One he remembered a bit. She was small, considerably soft spoken in the gym when addressed, and seemed to keep to herself. After a minute of racking his brain, the name Serenity popped in. The other he didn’t recognize. She sat on the opposite side, smiley and bubbly when they were alone and quiet when the waitress would come by. She laughed loudly and the three of them didn’t seem to understand the concept of an ‘inside voice’, not that Mingi was one to really be the judge of that.

So he watched, and listened. See, he and San were very different in a lot of ways, but they were the same in many too. And one of the ways they mirrored each other almost exactly was in the aspect of reading people. It’s why they clicked so well, and why San knew Mingi would get out of his head space soon and why Mingi could tell that the one girl was incredibly uncomfortable. But he let it sit for a bit longer. Something in their conversation would be a good point to go over there and he was waiting, yet, the wait wasn’t very long.

Cordelia shook her head at Seren and Yunho mocking Lavender, the playful banter not being overbearing though. Absentmindedly, she asked the question. “Do you think any of the hazers are attractive?” It wasn’t really directed at anyone, and she wasn’t expecting an answer and Seren let out a sigh of relief when Yunho just laughed it off. He was quiet about his private life, the whole reason he wore the pendent was because it was a way he could express himself without being overly outward. Coming out had been a process for him, and he wasn’t quite done with it. Ren knew, but of course she did. So the fact he smiled at the question made her feel better.

Yunho nodded after a second and laughed again. “Yeah, I’d say they all are pretty attractive..” He gave a toothy smile at Seren and then one at Cordelia. “Why do you ask? Do you think any of them are?”

Cord looked up, the award winning smile plastered on Yunho’s face making her break a smile back and search her brain. She did, but her head never retained names well. Faces on the other hand she did remember. But even with that “He’s blonde..” was the only thing she could manage to say out loud before she got lost in her thoughts.

“Blonde, yes, but that’s not very specific.” Mingi mumbled, San looking up at him.

“And so he’s alive.” San huffs out, half a laugh and and half confusion. “How’s it feel to be back?”

“Not yet, I wanna see if they all answer..” Mingi had finally looked in San’s direction, an ever present pout with added focused eyes as he rested his chin on his hand. “Some of our juniors are here..”

“You’re listening in on juniors?” San nearly snorted when he asked, because even though Mingi did this often, it was normally just for fun. Random, even, hearing something that caught his interest and listening for a second then coming back to the conversation in front of him. He never really looked out for people to actively listen to. There’s a first time for everything, though, and surely this was a first for San.

“There’s two that are blonde..” Yunho thought back to when Jongho was talking about them all, nodding as he thought about it. “Both are cute though.”

Seren rolled her eyes a bit. “I think they’re all kind of assholes..” The statement was a bit half hearted. She didn’t really know them too well, but nonetheless she still said it.

“That’s not the question..” Yunho nudged her, trying his best to at least get some type of answer out of her.

“Not even the one you ran into?” Cordelia chimed back in, again blanking on names. “He seemed kind of nice..”

Seren shrugged. “I guess, yeah.. He was nice, but I still stand by the fact that they're all assholes.” she gave a devilish look to Yunho and smirked. “What about you?”

Mingi shook his head and before San could react he was being grabbed by the arm and out of his seat. Mingi decided that for whatever reason, he didn’t want to know if Yunho found any of them attractive, personally. By name. It was enough to know that he thought they were all good looking. San followed Mingi once he had figured out where they were going, coming into view of their juniors. Cordelia looked up and nearly booked it, but the voice that came from the waitress made her stay put. She was between a rock and a hard place; and she didn’t feel like explaining who was who. San sat down next to her and Mingi pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table. Yunho caught himself from staring as Mingi straddled the seat, resting his arms on the back of the chair.

If he didn’t have an answer for Ren’s question two seconds ago, he did now.

And he was sitting next to him with a shit eating grin and a cologne that was subtle enough to make Yunho want to ask what it was. But he didn’t.

They all put on a chorus of hellos and kind greetings, Mingi smiling and shaking his head. “You don't have to be so formal here.” San nodded in agreement, a soft smile on his face as he turned to Cordelia. She tried to smile back, but she could feel her head going a bit dizzy.

He was pretty. Very pretty and only about 8 inches away from her and she wasn’t sure how to handle this information.

So she just nodded and turned back to Serenity.

Seren looked at her friends and then to the hazers. She still stood on her passing judgement of them, but either way she would never really tell them. Her quietness made her the first one that Mingi decided to point out though. “Serenity, right?” He tipped his head at her as she furrowed her eyebrows at him. Being singled out wasn’t her favorite thing in the world.

“Yes.” She spoke slowly, “Mingi?” She continued, looking to San and shaking her head. “And San, right?”

“Surprised you can remember our names so fast.” San spoke up, taken aback by the fact that she remembered who they were before the first week was hardly even started. He took in a sharp breath and closed his eyes once he realized the sentence seemed a bit condescending. “Not many freshmen remember their hazers names right away, is what I mean.”

Mingi laughed, turning to Cordelia and asking her. “Your name?” Mingi tried to speak softly, like he knew his voice was a bit too much for Cordelia and smiled. “I don’t quite remember if I’ve seen you with a name tag on..”

“Cordelia..” She peeped out, San looking at her again and holding out his hand to her.

“Nice to meet you, Cordelia,” San smiled as he waited for Cor to shake his hand. She took a second to compose herself, pushing the fact she could see very fine details of his face into the back of her head and shaking his hand. “It’s a pretty name,” He said, though he wasn’t sure he meant to say it out loud. The smile he had on his face was endearing and kind; San was hyper aware of the fact he looked a bit like a fool. There really wasn’t much of a reason - he was a smiley person, someone who wore his emotions well - but for some reason he couldn’t help but be so aware. The hand shake lasted a bit too long and Cordelia took her hand back and left San hanging, turning his attention back to Mingi.

Mingi’s eyes looked dark most of the time, but when he shifted his attention to Yunho they lit up a bit. Seren eyed him, the way he had a quick interest in her best friend - more like a brother by now - making her a bit weary. Yunho only came out to two people in total at this point; Seren and his ex-boyfriend. He wasn’t scared of people’s judgement, but after everything that had happened, he felt it was easier to keep to himself and take things at his own rate - not someone else’s. So, when Ren noticed Yunho’s puppy eyes flicker with undeniable curiosity when Mingi took a particularly loud seat at the end of the table, her defenses came up. And for good measure when Mingi’s voice came again.

“What about you, pretty boy?” His tone held little ground. It was flat, sort of, not even a hint of being flirtatious but still it made Yunho’s stomach do a flip - or maybe it was the smile that crept across his face, child like and soft. It was intentional, though and everyone at the table knew, considering Yunho had told him his name not a day earlier. But once the words left his mouth, Mingi noticed the passing expression of hurt that twisted Yunho’s softer features. What he didn’t notice was the fidgeting hand that Sereniny had grabbed and traced circles on to.

“Don’t call him that. You know his name is Yunho.” She spit, eyes narrowed and her jaw a bit too tight, but the point was taken quickly and Mingi backed off. The apology was soft, sincere and Ren felt bad for a second. She could feel her judgement being chipped away at, little by little as they sat there longer.

But before she could let it settle in that maybe they weren’t too bad, the sound of Lavender’s voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard in a peaceful, strange dimension. “I don’t mean to bother again, but are you guys going to order soon?” She glanced at Mingi and San, who weren’t there at first and wiggled her way in between them, her sentence not really directed at the rest of the group but at Cordelia.

The collective bitchy glares from Serenity and Yunho made San sit back and level his head a bit. He forgot that freshmen could be a bit intense, considering he was one at some point and was a bit of a handful, but this particular pair with the one to his right seemed to be on odd grouping. Or just overly too perfect and he hadn’t connected the dots yet, but both were concerning considering there were more than these three. Mingi had went and turned his attention to ordering, the drag of going around the table to collect orders taking longer than it should have when Lavender couldn’t pay attention to anyone except for one person.

Eventually, the freshmen sort of forgot that their seniors were there. All of them in the same space, but two very different worlds. Food had come and conversation had taken up, even Mingi and San joined in here and there. The two elders watched carefully, but nonetheless they were enjoying themselves being among the unfamiliar commotion. The waitress came up a few times, Seren and Yunho feigning a love quarrel to make Cordelia laugh about the uncomfortable awkwardness of being around a person who never really gave up on trying to turn stones into diamonds. San and Mingi had learned a lot more about these kids then they had signed up for, but they were interested. San even let the fact that he had a straw smacked out of his hand and was handed a metal one from across the table - a strange peace offering in a way, considering he was admittedly a bit scared of Serenity and her protectiveness. Cordelia had rambled for about 10 minutes about sea turtles after she apologized for hitting San and San dug himself into a hole very similar to Mingi’s. He wanted to make sure Cordelia got through the whole hazing process pretty smoothly, and he unintentionally appointed himself the person to do it.

But it had gotten late, and as much as the hazers wanted to hang around, they bid their farewells and headed off. Yunho worked to courage to call them back over for a second, his friends needing more signatures and looked up at Mingi when he stood in front of him. Mingi felt his heart flutter and it was a feeling he shoved aside once he agreed to sign.

San agreed too, taking Cordelia’s notebook and then pulling his pen from his pocket, taking the cap in his mouth and twirling the pen through his fingers before he signed. Unnecessary, every bit of it, but Cordelia found it to be far too attractive for her own good, shaking the thought before she accidentally said something.

And when the hazers left, the three of them talked about what the hell just happened for at least another hour before leaving themselves. Seren told the other two to go to the car and wait, that she’d pay the bill for this round since she could. When she pulled out her card and asked for the balance, she was told that she didn’t have one.

“The two young men you were with earlier paid for your meal.” The little old lady at the front counter spoke shakily, a tired but happy smile across her face. “Sweet young men, they are. They didn’t even tell you they were going to do that now did they?”

Seren smiled back and nodded, telling her to have a great night and leaving.

She considered taking San and Mingi off the ‘list of assholes’ in her head and adding herself to it instead.


End file.
